Directus CMS MCP server

This server implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for Directus CMS, allowing AI clients to interact with the Directus API. It serves as a bridge between AI tools and your Directus content management system, enabling seamless interaction with your content and data.

Prerequisites

Before installing the Directus MCP server, you'll need:

• Node.js
• NPM
• A Directus Instance

Quick Start

1. Get your Directus API credentials

• Go to your Directus instance
• Create a static access token or gather your email and password
• Keep these credentials secure

2. Add to your AI editor

Using an access token:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "directus": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pixelsock/directus-mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "DIRECTUS_URL": "https://your-directus-instance.com",
        "DIRECTUS_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternatively, with email/password authentication:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "directus": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pixelsock/directus-mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "DIRECTUS_URL": "https://your-directus-instance.com",
        "DIRECTUS_EMAIL": "[email protected]",
        "DIRECTUS_PASSWORD": "your-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

For Cursor:

1. Go to Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP
2. Click + Add New Global MCP Server
3. Paste configuration
4. Replace placeholder values with your Directus credentials
5. Save and restart Cursor

For Claude Desktop:

1. Open Settings → Developer
2. Click Edit Config
3. Open claude_desktop_config.json in a code editor and paste configuration
4. Replace placeholder values with your Directus credentials
5. Save and restart Claude

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues starting the server in your MCP client, try these solutions:

Verify your Directus credentials

1. Confirm your Directus URL is correct and accessible
2. Check that your access token or email/password credentials are valid
3. Update the credentials in your MCP client configuration
4. Save and restart your MCP client

Verify Node.js and NPM installation

Confirm you have Node.js and NPM installed by running:

node -v
npm -v

Clear NPM cache

If you're having issues with npx, try clearing your NPM cache:

npm cache clean --force

Available Tools

Collections and Items

getItems                // Get items from a collection
getItem                 // Get a single item from a collection by ID
createItem              // Create a new item in a collection
updateItem              // Update an existing item in a collection
deleteItem              // Delete an item from a collection
getCollections          // Get all collection schemas
getFields               // Get fields for a collection
getRelations            // Get relations for a collection

Files

getFiles                // Get files from Directus
uploadFile              // Upload a file to Directus

Users and Permissions

login                   // Login to Directus and get an access token
getUsers                // Get users from Directus
getCurrentUser          // Get the current user info
getRoles                // Get roles from Directus
getPermissions          // Get permissions from Directus

System

getSystemInfo           // Get system information from Directus
getActivity             // Get activity logs from Directus
getConfig               // Get current configuration information

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "directus" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@pixelsock/directus-mcp@latest"],"env":{"DIRECTUS_URL":"https://your-directus-instance.com","DIRECTUS_ACCESS_TOKEN":"YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "directus": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@pixelsock/directus-mcp@latest"
            ],
            "env": {
                "DIRECTUS_URL": "https://your-directus-instance.com",
                "DIRECTUS_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "directus": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@pixelsock/directus-mcp@latest"
            ],
            "env": {
                "DIRECTUS_URL": "https://your-directus-instance.com",
                "DIRECTUS_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect